Narcissism has become a real problem in the modern world with the new trend of selfies, but where did it all begin? Oddly enough, the word came to be from an age old greek myth called Narcissus and Echo. Today I will explore the two popular variations of said myth explaining the differences and similarities. I hope you enjoy learning about this myth as much as I did.
These versions, as different as they may be are also very similar. In the written and indexed version of Narcissus and Echo there is a nymph by the name of echo, she angers a queen and is cursed to only be able to repeat other’s last words. Echo then finds a handsome young man by the name of Narcissus in the woods. Many girls have fallen in love with Narcissus and yet he neglected all of them. He soon found a crystal clear pond and finds a fascinating face within it which he falls in love with it.
In the written variation echo stalls the queen of athens and this enrages her, while in the video echo interrupts the queen of the gods and enrages her. The quite apparent differences don’t stop there either. In the video version Echo never says a word to Narcissus but oddly enough in the text echo confronts him, grabs him by the shoulder, and repeats the last words of his sentence “I will not let you love me!” thus stating “Love me!” multiple times. Another rather important detail varies between these interpretations, in the authored text narcissus dies of natural causes and pasess beside the pool of water but in the video he falls into the pool trying to kiss the reflection and drowns. This details is very important to the general makeup of the story which is why I find it so strange that it would be inconsistent between said versions. The final discrepancy is when Narcissus becomes a flower, the video tells of the flower leaning over the water staring at it’s reflection but the text says it was just simply a poolside
In the short story “Where Are You Going, Where Have You Been?”, a Greek meaning of the character Connie has been presented in two ways, by her being a nymph and her breathing. Some researchers believe Connie to be a nymph from Greek mythology because the definition of a nymph follows suit with the character Connie. “In Greek mythology, nymphs were inferior divinities frequently
These traits -choosing significant relationships where love can never be satisfactorily consumated, and the tendency to mirror significant others- were motivating features for choosing the term Echo Personality Disorder. In Greek mythology Echo was the lover of Narcissus. In this myth Echo, a forest nymph, falls in love with the egocentric youth Narcissus, and when he shows clear signs of rejecting her she persists in her attatchement, and will not be moved from her aim. She finally satisfies herself with the masochistic task of echoing back to him all that he says. This too is a central feature of EPD behaviour in relationships, where the individual will mirror, echo, and compliment another at the expense of their own self-worth and dignity. This echoing behaviour, though, does not exhaust the mythological potential of Echo, even if commentators on the myth narrow their descriptions to this single episode with Narcissus. Echo also has relations with Zeus, Hera, Pan, and Gaia, which have a different coloration to those she has with Narcissus, and has many friends in the form of other forest nymphs -"sisters" as we would call them today; attesting to the complexity we find within the Echo personality constellation.
Classified as part of the Dramatic Personality Disorder, a Narcissistic Personality Disorder is based on the extremity of self-admiration. The origin of the specific personality disorder comes from the Greek root word “narcissism,” which is based on Greek mythology of Narcissus who was a man that fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. The cause of the illness is unknown, however professional mental health doctors believe the condition may be due to how a child was raised. When still in the adolescent years, excessive unconditional or an insufficient amount of love from the parents may be the cause of the disorder. Early signs of the mental illness can be spotted by adulthood. The majority of the people who are diagnosed with Narcissistic Personality Disorder show symptoms such as being conceited and garrulous by exaggerating achievements and goals that are unrealistic while ...
There are few ways in which the two versions are alike. The most obvious is that they tell the same story, albeit with a slight variation at some points, but in essence, the story told is the same. They are both about a knight who committed a crime against a woman and was sent on a quest by the queen to learn “what women most desire.” Throughout his journey, the knight asked many women what they most desired and received varied answers. Dejected, the knight travels back to the kingdom to receive his punishment, but he comes across an old woman. She tells him what women most desire, the knight is acquitted, and he is forced to marry the old woman. In the end, the knight allows the old woman to choose whether she would like to be beautiful or faithful, so she becomes a beautiful and faithful young woman because the knight learned his lesson about women. Moreover, by glancing at the two poems, it is obvious that the length is similar.
Firstly, what is exactly narcissism? The word ‘narcissism’ was derived from an ancient Greek myth of Narcissus. Narcissus was depicted as a handsome young man who adored his looks very much. Many young maidens fell in love with him but he criticizes them for being too ugly for him. One day, he fell in love with his own reflection in a pool of water. However, he accidentally drowned himself as he tried to touch his reflection. Hence, the word ‘narcissism’ is usually depicted as a personality that reflects excessive of self-love on oneself. Individuals who are narcissistic are usually described as somebody who is selfish, snobbish or proud. This is because narcissistic individual processes information obtained differently than others. They believe that they deserve more than others since they think they are more superior in every aspect. Due to their sense of grandiosity, they will do anything in order t...
This confirms that her argument is directed towards the king. The second audience is the people of Thebes. In the play, the chorus represents the citizens of Thebes. They are almost always present when the king speaks, and this scene is no exception. Anitgone forms her argument to appeal to the thoughts and emotions of the citizens.
Each time a story is told, elements of the original are often changed to suit new situations and current societies, or to offer a new perspective. Over the centuries, Ovid’s tale of "Echo and Narcissus" has been told many times to new audiences, and in the late nineteenth-century, it took the form of The Picture of Dorian Gray. "Echo and Narcissus" is the tale of a beautiful boy who fell in love with his reflection in a pond, and spurned others who loved him because he was so fixated upon himself. As a result of his extreme self-worship and consequent inability to love another, Narcissus perishes. Although several aspects of the original myth are retained in Wilde’s novel, The Picture of Dorian Gray is shocking and its characters commit acts that lead to ultimate decay and destruction. By changing elements of Ovid’s original tale, Wilde expands the myth of Echo and Narcissus to express the inevitable punishment and ruin that excessive desire brings.
Narcissistic Personality Disorder is a mental disorder that is considered to be an impairment in personality functioning, the presence of pathological traits, lack of empathy for others and a need for admiration. This type of personality disorder has some related disorders such as antisocial behaviors, interpersonal exploitation and envy. According to Luo, Cai, & Song (2014), “Narcissism refers to a kind of abundant self-love, characterized by a series of characteristic including self-desire for admiration, fantasies of superiority, hypersensitivity to criticism, exploitation of people, and lack of empathy for others” (p. 1). There have been ongoing discussions on how this type of behavior is processed in the brain. It is not clearly known
Euripides'version is much more dramatic. The play begins with Electra's marriage to a peasant. Aegisthus had tried to kill Electra. but Clytemnestra convinced him to allow her to live. He decided to marry her to a peasant so her children will be humbly born and pose no threat to his throne. Orestes and Pylades arrive. Orestes says that he has come to Apollo's shrine to pledge himself to avenge his father's. murder. Orestes, concealing his identity, talks with Electra about the recent happenings in Mycenae. She admits that she is sad that her brother had been taken away at such a young age and the only person that would recognize him to be her father's old servant. She also discusses her scorn of Aegisthus desecrating the monument over. Agamemnon's grave and his ridicule of Orestes. When the old servant. arrives, after being summoned by Electra, he recognizes and identifies.
Lance’s excessive contrasting of Crab with each of the members of his house emphasizes Crab’s expressionless departure from them. Lance clearly does not seem to possess any misgivings about Crab’s indifference in relation to the fact that he is a dog, as Lance recounts the distress of his cat, who wrung her “hands” (2.3.7) which by her very nature, she cannot have done. Similarly, Crab likely does not weep because he cannot weep, a notion that Lance seems to overlook. Lance’s desire to see Crab weep is perhaps pertinent in that his speech occurs immediately following an exchange of vows between Proteus and Julia, before Proteus departs for Milan. Proteus remarks of the weeping (and now absent) Julia, “What, gone without a word? / Ay, so true love should do. It cannot speak” (2.2.16-7). That Proteus should make such a claim undermines his vows to Julia, as well as the Petrarchan mode of love, which aims to win the woman with words. Because of the proximity of the two scenes as well as a similar intent on weeping expressing true emotion, it is perhaps possible to read the interaction between man and dog as a mocking representation of the lovers and their separation. While neither Lance nor Crab seems to face detachment from a lover, Lance is nonetheless concerned with the manner in which one expresses a true emotion, such as sadness or regret.
In Jean Twenge’s novel titled, “Generation Me”, she describes “Generation Me” as a group of self-obsessed, overconfident, assertive, miserable individuals. “Gen-Me” cares about what other people think so much they 'll go to great lengths to “impress” their peers. Self-obsession can be viewed as a sickness of the mind. The average person may be oblivious to the fact that 1 out of 6 people are narcissists. “Narcissism falls along the axis of what psychologists call personality disorders, one of a group that includes antisocial, dependent, histrionic, avoidant and borderline personalities. But by most measures, narcissism is one of the worst, if only because the narcissists themselves are so clueless.” - Jefferey Kluger
Looking at an individual and seeing two polar opposite idealistic ways can be troubling. How may one look at oneself in such a terrible way but appear to look at oneself as if they love oneself a bit too much? Being narcissistic is being extremely egocentric and being exceedingly self-absorbed, and self-hate is narcissism’s polar opposite, not liking oneself at all. The appearance of narcissism is purely an expression of self-hate.
The Chorus, in this play, guides the audience. In the end, it is up to the individual as to what reaction they have to the play, but the Chorus is there to, in a way makes this reaction more complicated. One could leave the play totally condemning Medea, but the Chorus display’s Medea in a way that makes the audience sympathise with her, and so the moral conclusions that need to be come to side, become more complex. The audience has to base their reaction to Medea on what crimes they have seen her commit, and on what they have heard of her through the Chorus. Their integral part in the play acts in many ways, to follow, revise, and extend the plot of the play, and to influence the opinions and sympathies of the audience. It is a literary, and dramatic device that Euripedes uses, and uses well, to help portray a tragedy, and also a moralistic play, in which the Chorus is the voice that provides the morals.
Narcissistic personality disorder is condition where an affected person has a superiority complex, or elevated feeling of self worth. These people do not experience much empathy for others, and often suffer problems in social situations such as work, or relationships. In contrast to the grandiosity they may present, under the surface these individuals have very a fragile self confidence and are easily hurt by criticism.
The similarities between Dorian Gray and Narcissus are innumerable. For one, both of them leave the women they love (Sybil and Echo, respectively) for themselves. They become engrossed with the ideas of beauty and immortality and, as a result, disregard the world around them. In the novel, Sybil actually dies, whereas in the painting the nature around Echo dies. Overall, through their selfishness, deceit, and violence, both Dorian Gray and Narcissus become so obsessed with themselves that they lose touch with the real world and hurt others around them.